College students are getting their first taste of life inside the area’s newest, multi-million pound landmark building this week.

Bracknell and Wokingham College’s new Church Road building in Bracknell opens its doors for the new term this week and students will be able to take advantage of state-of-the-art facilities and enjoy the views from the top of the six-storey building.

The £36 million project, funded with the help of a £26 million grant from the Government’s Learning and Skills Council, will replace the college’s existing Church Road building which is being demolished.

College principal Howard O’Keefe hopes the new building will help the college improve.

He said: “The college is already rated good by Ofsted but we hope this will help us get the top, “outstanding” grade.

“It’s hard to be outstanding in an old, shabby building but this will impact on the standards of teaching and learning.

“We have great staff in the college who have done well with the old facilities so the new building will help them rise to the occasion.”

Applications to the college are already up 50 per cent compared to last year and 1,200 students – many from the Reading area – are expected to study at the college this academic year, compared to 800 last year.

The eight-storey building dominates the Met Office roundabout to the point that Mr O’Keefe would like to see the junction with London Road, Millennium Way and Warfield Road renamed.

He added: “We would like it to be called the College Roundabout.

“The Met Office hasn’t been here for several years and this new building is the first thing people will see as they come into town via this roundabout.”

As students enter the building they will be able to enjoy a foyer, including a Starbucks café at reduced prices, dominated by a specially commissioned piece of art by Nicky Hirst.

The glass front of the reception has been covered by 89 film panels made up of colours from the Crayola Crayons palette, next to each one is the name of another, unrelated, Crayola colour.

Nicky said: “This work explores our thoughts and associations – do people hear the same things and see the same colours?"

Inside the new building there are 30 general classrooms, as well as purpose-built areas like hair and beauty studios, motor vehicle workshops, a drama studio called The Cube, a sports hall, laboratories and more.

Where the top three floors look over the roundabout the rooms have been given floor-to-ceiling windows and have to form a section of the building named The Prow.

The Prow is a bookable space for teachers and members of staff to use and looks out over the town and into the countryside surrounding it.

The college provides a range of qualifications for 16 to 18-year-olds as well as courses for adults and has centres all over Bracknell and Wokingham.